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How the great storm of 1953 caused Britain's worst peace-time disaster – interactive

The storm that raced down the east coast of Britain during the night of 31 January 1953 battered low-lying coastal towns and villages from the Humber to the Thames and left more than 300 UK residents dead

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In the worst natural disaster Britain experienced during the 20th century, the low-lying housing of England's east coast was devastated by a huge tidal surge, which left 307 people dead and 40,000 homeless